Andrew, I didn't even think to check the board to see if it was Zero'd on the mixdown tracks, that sounds like the culprit to me.....it makes the most sense. I'm hoping the mixdown I was listening to was affected by the EQ and whatever else was being used on those tracks, in which case, on playback, hopefully the mixdown will sound good!!! Here's hoping, I'll find out when I get my marks back.
Matt, I found that I really needed scheduled and formal training in Audio Engineering. I did try learning on my own, mind you I was quite a bit more distracted back then, but I had a HELL of a time learning on my own. Kudos to you for grabbing the bull by the horns and doing it yourself. I would be saving a ton of money if I could do it on my own, but I learn best this way for some reason. Text books, scheduled classes and labs, written tests and practical tests, and the pressure that comes with it. If I didn't do it this way, I think I'd be lacking in my learning, I'm just not disciplined enough. Mind you, it is costing me a crap ton...but willingly so.
I'll tell you this, and I'm sure this is similar to any secondary training people have taken, I'm one of the ones taking this seriously. There are guys in my class, who are spending the same amount of bucks to be here, and I rarely see them. To each their own, but that to me is just a waste of time and money. Guess I'm here for the right reasons.
So on an unrelated note, I purchased an old analogue board about a month ago that I'm running into my line ins on my interface, and recording direct into PT10. I did some research, and found some decent reviews on this old dog, what a beast. Love it. Have a look.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=rm1608&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1680&bih=865&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsfd&tbnid=C-gJRpko87NpNM:&imgrefurl=http://analog.exblog.jp/191597/&docid=rHg5FZiyr1-jgM&imgurl=http://pds.exblog.jp/pds/1/200501/08/18/c0023318_2121927.jpg&w=1600&h=1200&ei=XSTRT6OdDay30QHItNHSDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=841&vpy=157&dur=780&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=116&ty=155&sig=117368989189859817122&page=1&tbnh=150&tbnw=204&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:76 Wow that's a long URL. Anyways, I like the pre's on it, there's way more warmth and character to these pre's than the mic pre's on my interface. I was concerned about the direct outs of the board, there are 16 unbalanced plugs in the back...I run 8 of them into my interface right now. Future upgrade will be to have all 16 ins, and on the 2nd bus of the board, all 16 back to the board for mixing. So now I'm only using it for the EQ's and the pre's. Not sure if this belongs in this category, but thought it would be worth a mention.
Ok, I gotta get back to studying. All kinds of exams and projects due next week. Always a cluster-F. The week following exams, I'm thinking about laying down some acoustic tracks, and vocal tracks. Should be fun!